No changes for BC Transit routes 88 and 89 in Prince George, for now

Bus routes 88 and 89 will continue to operate as they are currently operating.

At last night’s (Wednesday) meeting, Prince George City Council voted on potential changes for the route.

They were given three options, stay the course, switch to the proposed route, or find a mix of the two.

On the current route, buses travelling south along the route travel on Ospika Boulevard, onto Davis Road, Foster Road, Baker Road, and then onto Tyner Boulevard.

“The 88 Westgate and 89 Hart services form an important part of our transit system, and serve several popular destinations,” said City Manager of Transportation, Transit and Technical Services Dave Bradshaw.

“It is experiencing demand beyond capacity and this impacts service reliability during the busiest times of the service day.”

Travelling north, buses follow the same route in the reverse direction.

A proposed route would have buses travel to the intersection of Ospika and Tyner, without going through the neighbourhood.

The changes were met with some opposition from the community.

A petition opposing the change from the Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh Society garnered 279 signatures, and 28 per cent of respondents to previous pubic engagement done by the City and BC Transit opposed the changes.

Councillor Cori Ramsay suggested having the neighbourhood serviced by Routes 16 and 19 instead of 88 and 89.

“It would basically have the 16, which is already going from UNBC down to McGill and Domano, instead it would turn left onto Ospika, go through the Davis/Foster/Baker area, and the go back down to McGill and Domano,” Ramsay said.

“It’s still going the same route the 89 already goes, and we know it can make that route, yeah there are some challenges with it, in terms of if cars are parked in the way, but that’s just in any residential area.”

Council unanimously voted to continue with the current route, with an amendment added to explore acceptable alternatives.